92 Cebu Students Complete Japanese Training Course

Some 92 Cebu students completed its Japanese philosophy (monozukuri)-inspired training course on engineering and technical education.

This is the first batch of graduates of the three-year “Saitama-Cebu Comprehensive Human Resource Monozukuri Project.”

Governor Hilario P. Davide III, who graced the graduation rites, congratulated the students who came from Universities of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) and San Carlos (USC).

He said, “Your formal and practical training in engineering and technical education through monozukuri provides each of you an excellent platform to be a better worker, a better person.”

“The proof of education is how we apply what we learn,” further stated the governor in his message to the students. The graduation rites was held at the USJR Audio-Video room last February 12.

Both Gov. Davide and Saitama Gov. Kiyoshi Ueda, who met in Japan last year, considered the collaboration as springboard towards a strengthened international relationship between Cebu and Saitama.

Gov. Davide said he was inspired by the project as “we continue to push for public-private partnership in building a solid foundation for a better future.”

“When the Saitama Prefecture and USJR started this project on November 11, 2013, the Province of Cebu was asked to be the witness in unfolding a partnership that will promote the culture of excellence. I was happy and hopeful as I affixed my signature believing that this will open windows of opportunities, especially for the Cebuanos,” he added.

The project was funded by Japan’s Saitama Prefectural Government in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It follows JICA’s technical cooperation for grassroots projects framework with the participation of Toyo University, Saitama University, Shibura Institute of Technology and Nippon Institue of Technology.

Ueda was not around during the graduation ceremony but he was represented by Mogi Koji, deputy executive director, Saitama Prefecture.

From the perspective of the local universities, USJR President Fr. Peter Silab said this is part of their goals to improve the standard of their engineering courses.

Monozukuri is an “approach and philosophy that aims to maximize customer satisfaction and create excellent products. The culture also places importance on ideas such as community coexistence, environmental harmony, and effective resource utilization.”

Engr. Virgilio Abellana, dean of USJR College of Engineering, said that of the 92 graduates, 10 will fly to Japan this March for company job shadowing.

On June or July this year, some 30 chief executive officers (CEOs) of Japanese companies are coming to Cebu for the formal recruitment process. Governor Davide hopes a lot of these graduates will meet the satisfaction of the CEOs.

www.cebu.gov.ph